


sometimes i dream foolish things

by unbalancedlove



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: (sorry), Alternate Universe - College/University, Cats, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Humor, M/M, One-sided PanWink, implied youngdongpo, side jinhwi, side seonlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-09
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-01-31 07:09:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12676920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unbalancedlove/pseuds/unbalancedlove
Summary: park jihoon never thought that a small lie would lead him to date his worst enemy.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i'm excited to finally post this! i have the whole fic outlined and 2 chapters completed, so i'll try to post around this time every week.
> 
> their school is based off the university i studied at in korea, i tried to make it as accurate as possible but i'm sorry if there are any mistakes! everyone is aged up (obviously) and seonlin are the youngest at 19.
> 
> title from hyungseob and euiwoong's it will be good.

jihoon always bragged that his best quality is his ability to mask his emotions at any given situation. no one ever knew what he was really thinking, so half of the people on campus thought he their best friend. “there’s a name for that, it’s called being a fake bitch hyung,” daehwi would always remind him, but he didn’t really give a fuck. this was safe, he was better off keeping a distance from 90% of people. They would never be ready to get the full park jihoon experience anyway.

but now, for the first time in his life, he was truly panicking.

guanlin was a nervous mess, even more awkward than he usually is. jihoon felt terrible. the poor kid looked like he was about to pass out and it was all his fault.

guanlin stared down at his full cup of coffee, which he probably doesn’t even like but ordered because he knows jihoon’s addicted to it.

how was he going to get out of this situation with the least amount of damage possible? he liked guanlin, sure, but he didn’t for a second think about dating him. jihoon ignored the jupiter sized crush that guanlin harbored for him, he was sure that he would just get over it soon.

but he didn’t.

and here they are.

jihoon should have known when he saw the worried look on seonho’s face when guanlin asked if the two of them could have coffee, and emphasized on the word alone.

he opened his mouth at the same time that guanlin did.

“y-you don’t have to give me an answer right awa-”

“i have a boyfriend!”

fuck.

guanlin blinked at him, he looked more shocked than hurt. “you do? who is it?”

he doesn’t have a boyfriend! jihoon doesn’t date! “uuhhh, uh. his name is,” he looked down at the crumbled bill next to him with his name on it.

“park.”

“his name is park?” guanlin might be innocent and cute, but he sure wasn’t an idiot.

“yup!” jihoon slowly began to regain his confidence. he winked at guanlin. “the rest of his name is. con. fi. den. tial ♡.”

guanlin sighed. “i didn’t even think you’d say yes anyways.” jihoon felt a little tug in his (icy, barely beating) heart. “but i’m glad you found someone,” he added sincerely, trying very hard to smile. “i hope he’s making you happy, hyung. you deserve the best.”

he got up and left before jihoon could say another word.

jihoon sat and stared at the full cup of coffee across from him for the rest of the afternoon.

 

 

“you couldn’t just say no to him?” jinyoung raised an eyebrow.

“i know! what happened to park jihoon, notorious heartbreaker and shapeshifting demon?” daehwi agreed.

“this is different. he’s not like some random guy i’ve never talked to before,” jihoon hissed. “it’s lai guanlin.”

they met guanlin almost a year ago now, when seonho was volunteering at the university’s language institute and was assigned as his language exchange buddy. he had to pass a korean proficiency test before he could become a regular student with the rest of them, and seonho thought that the best way for him to improve would be to bring him along every time they hung out. he quickly became a part of their little mismatched gang. guanlin was like jihoon’s little brother. not the kind of brothers who are total shitheads to each other, the soft kind. jihoon wanted their tall noodly baby to grow up and become successful and hopefully feel less nervous ordering food at korean restaurants.

he felt even more responsibility after guanlin joined the civil engineering department with him as a freshman and couldn’t see seonho, a business administration major, as often as before. they had a special bond as the only two engineering majors in the group.

the usual table at their favorite bar near the campus seemed a little empty today with seonho and guanlin’s absence. they didn’t even bother asking seonho if he wanted to come along with them tonight, knowing that he was probably already over at guanlin’s.

was guanlin ever going to realize that his best friend was in love with him? probably not anytime soon.

“why did i choose park of all names? i’m not even friends with any parks,” jihoon sighed deeply. “he’s definitely gonna bring up that imaginary boyfriend again. what the fuck am i going to tell him?”

“that’s because you barely have any friends, hyung,” daehwi replied. “although i can’t see why you’d look for more when you already have the very best.”

“bae jinyoung, could you please tell your boyfriend to shut the fuck up.”

jinyoung seemed to be in deep thought. “we do know one though?”

“who?” jihoon couldn’t think of anyone.

daehwi suddenly perked up. “oh, yeah! him!”

“just fucking tell me already you annoying assholes.” he hated it when his two best friends did this telepathic shit.

daehwi and jinyoung looked at each other. “you’re not a huge fan of him though.”

“huh? the only person i know who’s more obnoxious than you two is wooj-”

woojin.

park.

park woojin.

“no fucking way!” he yelled, startling the woman passed out on the table across from them.

“it’d be nice if you and woojin hyung dated,” jinyoung said. “we could double date.”

dating park woojin already sounded like a nightmare on its own, but going on a date with jinyoung and daehwi? he shuddered.

“yeah,” daehwi pouted. “you can’t hate my roommate forever, hyung.” he stretched out the last word in that cute way that worked on almost everyone but jihoon, who knew him for over five years already and was immune to that shit.

he opened his mouth to throw in another smartass retort, but then decided that it wasn’t worth the effort, they had already had this conversation around 300 times.

 

 

tuesday mornings were a pain in the ass for jihoon. he had three classes starting from 8am and a late afternoon lab, the first class was a free elective in a different building that he never stepped foot into until this semester. he hated that class, not only because of the timing and location but because his enemy, who is in a totally different major, also decided to take western classics.

the conversation from the previous night played over again in his mind while he walked through the still unfamiliar halls of the liberal arts building.

lying wasn’t exactly his forte, he usually avoided these situations by dodging questions or just staying silent. he wasn’t much of a talker to begin with.

but guanlin.

there was no use crying over it now, but he shouldn’t have let this ticking bomb sit there that entire time. and worse of all he decided to deal with it in the most complicated way possible.

he angrily sipped on his iced vanilla latte and kicked the classroom door open.

a loud scream along with a painful thud came from the other side.

jihoon rolled his eyes. great, now he had to pretend he gives a shit about whoever decided to be in his way this morning.

he rushed inside. “oh god, i’m so sorry, are you alright?” he said while putting on his best concerned face.

his fake concern, however, quickly evaporated when he recognized the unmistakable dark red head on the floor.

“ugh, you,” he sneered at woojin.

“i’m fine, thanks asshole,” woojin answered. he was the only person besides his close friends who has seen his real personality, and he didn’t really know how he felt about that. “you spilled my coffee all over the floor though, that’s 2,500 won of my hard earned money.”

jihoon immediately started digging for his wallet, and nearly shrieked when he felt a hand grab his wrist. woojin dragged him down a little as he used his arm for support to get back up.

“you will buy me coffee, after class,” he said.

jihoon raised his chin and glared. “or what?”

“or i’ll tell daehwi you pushed me down on purpose.”

a string of colorful insults came under jihoon’s breath. “fine.”

“thanks a lot!”

 

 

“i’d like uh, one berry berry strawberry chocolate woofuccino,” woojin said to the barista at the shiba bean cafe. “anything for you, jihoon-ah?”

jihoon glared at him. that was a 5,000 won drink. he never agreed to this.

and also, how stereotypical of park woojin, veterinary medicine major, to choose the only dog themed cafe near their campus.

not a dog cafe. a dog themed cafe with woofuccinos and pawlattes.

“their coffee tastes the best,” he said. that fucking liar.

he rolled his eyes and handed over his card. he wanted to get this over with quickly so he could get to the engineering building in time for his lab.

they stepped out, and woojin took a long sip from his cup, which had a fucking tail attached to it, before speaking.

“so i heard from daehwi that you need me to pretend to be your boyfriend.”

jihoon almost choked on his water.

“i thought he was just fucking with me, but your reaction tells me he...wasn’t...” woojin trailed off, horror beginning to settle on his face.

“it’s not true!” jihoon snapped, and then realized that his defensiveness only made him look worse. “daehwi, who will soon be very dead, probably told you a very dramatized version of what actually happened.”

his best friend was honestly wasting his talent in business administration, he belonged in creative writing instead.

“well, i didn’t exactly believe him when he said you went down on your knees begging him to give you my phone number.”

jihoon looked over at the huge campus lake and considered jumping in.

“why would i beg anyone for your number?” he barked.

woojin didn’t even flinch. “as if i’d let people give it to you, asshole.”

the rest of their walk was silent, and jihoon didn’t even realize woojin had walked him all the way to the engineering building until he looked up and saw one of the freshman girls step out of the entrance and greet him cheerfully.

he tried to sound out a begrudging thank you , but woojin had already turned around and started making his way to the dorm complex.

jihoon tilted his head. woojin was done with class, but still stayed with him this entire time?

weird.

 

 

woojin dropped down on his bed the second he got back. “that idiot is driving me crazy.”

“not so easy being in love with your enemy now, is it?” daehwi asked, not looking up from the movie he and jinyoung were watching on his laptop.

daehwi and jinyoung were the image of the perfect couple, snuggled up together, sharing a blanket, and resting their heads against each other.

“i’m sorry not all of us can meet our soulmates on the first day of the first semester of college.”

the two of them blushed and looked down at the same time upon hearing the word ‘soulmate.’ disgusting, but also kinda cute.

he buried his face into his pillow. “what am i going to do, daehwi-aaahhhhhhhh.”

his roommate hopped over to his side and pet his shoulder. “you ask him if you could be his fake boyfriend and then woo him with your real boyfriend skills.”

woojin made a muffled screechy noise.

“or you could just say i’ve been in love with you for the past 2 years,” he added.

woojin leaped up. “i’m not in love with him! i just….think he’s hot.”

“he calls you dickhead.”

woojin sighs dreamily. “yeah, it’s hot.”

jinyoung groaned. “could you guys like, just, make out already so i don’t have to hear about woojin hyung’s weird kinks anymore.”

woojin shot him a dirty look. “you wouldn’t have to if you didn’t literally live in our room.”

jinyoung blushed again. “daehwi, get back here.” daehwi hopped back to his own bed.

it was all jihoon’s fault for looking this beautiful while having a flaming pile of garbage for a personality. if he wasn’t daehwi’s roommate, woojin would have fostered a healthy distant crush on park jihoon while being blissfully ignorant of the evil that lurks behind his pretty eyes.

god, he has the most gorgeous eyes.

he snapped out of his trance he was in when daehwi’s phone suddenly buzzed 12 times in a row.

an ugly nervous laugh escaped daehwi’s mouth. “sounds like jihoonie hyung is done with his classes for today.”

“and he’s ready to beat you up,” jinyoung added unhelpfully.

“that was implied.”

“i’d love it if jihoon beat me u-” woojin started and jinyoung flailed his arms in his direction.

“stop. shut up. do not finish that sentence.”

woojin huffed. “i hope he murders both of you.”

 

 

and…..i...hope...you….choke….on…..a massive…..

seonho snatched the phone of out jihoon’s hands and made a disgusted face as his eyes scanned through the texts he was sending to daehwi.

“damn, what did daehwi hyung do this time?” he asked while hitting the backspace button rapidly.

“none of your fucking business, give me my phone back you little shithead.” jihoon tried to reach for his phone, but seonho was unfortunately over 180cm and had learned that raising his arms a little rendered jihoon completely helpless.

“now let’s take all that negative energy,” seonho said with a big smile, “and put it into making yoo seonho’s dinner.”

“when the fuck did i invite you over for dinner?”

“guanlin’s out with his engineering friends tonight and you have an apartment with a fully functioning kitchen. do you need any further explanation?”

jihoon huffed and put on his frilly pink apron. “just go out with him, be friends with his friends.”

seonho pouted. “don’t wanna. i wanna hang out with just guanlin.”

two babies. he was taking care of two whole babies.

“well did you ever consider maybe voicing out that thought when he’s around?”

he shook his head furiously. “‘course not! he’s finally making friends on his own, i’d never make him feel bad about about that.”

“t-that’s not what….i meant….you know what. forget it.”

“oh right, hyung. guanlin said something funny to me yesterday.”

here it comes.

he turned his back to seonho and started digging through the pantry, pretending not to hear.

seonho continued anyways. “he said you had a boyfriend? what’s that all about?”

“hmm, that’s right...” seonho was incapable of keeping secrets from his best friend, so now the lie had to be extended. “it’s true. we started dating recently so i didn’t really wanna talk about it to people.”

seonho pushed in the big glasses perched on his nose. “what’s his name?”

“p-park.”

“park?”

“park.”

“year?”

“same year, same age as me.” stop describing park woojin.

“major?”

“uh, a science.” stop describing park woojin!

seonho narrowed his eyes at him. “you better not be lying about this. if you play with guanlin’s feeling’s i’m gonna….” he grabbed the innocent bunny plushie sitting on jihoon’s couch and ran a finger through its neck.

jihoon rolled his eyes. “says the boy who can’t even muster the courage to confess to his best friend. at least guanlin has more balls than you do.”

“that’s a low blow, hyung.”

“good. when are you planning to shut up and help me make this pasta?”

 

“listen, hyung, your subconscious wants this,” daehwi pointed at his head and whispered seriously.

no, not creative writing. psychology.

jihoon handed him another dirty dish. “did you come over to eat or spread your park woojin agenda?”

“i came over because you texted me lub you magu magu hwi with 20 heart emojis straight after threatening to slash me into a million pieces.” they both looked over at the boy passed out on the couch. “i should have known it was just seonho again.”

he didn’t seem to have any remorse about what he did, and jihoon felt pretty comfortable blaming him for 90% of what happened so far.

“do you know any parks who are in the same year as me and study a science?”

“my roommate.”

“no!”

daehwi shrugged. “fine, stay alone and bitter until you’re like 80 while jinyoungie hyung and i spend the rest of our lives together in a huge house with our 15 children.”

“i will, and don’t invite me over i don’t want to babysit your ugly kids.”

they fell into a comfortable silence while washing the dishes and cleaning around the tiny kitchen. jihoon couldn’t help but smile, he missed the days when it was just him and daehwi. the thought of them staying friends for the next 20 years was pretty sweet.

the two of them were the only ones who knew each other before university, having gone to the same high school. when they first met, daehwi was a pretty shy boy who had just moved back from the states after spending half of his life there. jihoon’s offer to help tutor him for physics, which he was failing, had somehow resulted in his first close friendship.

daehwi was a completely different person after he began to open up, and all the other business administration students adored him and depended on him.

jihoon was thankful for that too, he helped him meet most of his current friends.

“how long have i known you for, hyung?” daehwi suddenly said.

jihoon furrowed his brows. “five? six years?”

his best friend finished drying the last dish and set it aside. “have i ever betrayed your trust in me?” he continued softly.

he could think of a million instances, actually. but he knew what daehwi meant.

have i ever introduced you to someone you hated?

“no,” jihoon admitted.

“then just go for it! step out of your comfort zone, give him a chance.” he was using his disgustingly cute voice again, and jihoon would be lying if he said it wasn’t effective this time around. “for me?”

and how could jihoon say no to that?

he nodded slowly, and the big devious smile that began to spread across daehwi’s face made him regret it instantly.

 

 

jihoon paced in front of the classroom restlessly. he sneaked another glance at woojin, who was still having a lively conversation with the professor.

he was going to ask this time for sure.

this was their third class together since he had that conversation with daehwi, and jihoon chickened out during the last two times at the very last minute.

woojin finally came out after what felt like 2 hours, but had the nerve to stare at his phone when jihoon was right there in front of him. he didn’t even seem to notice that someone had been waiting for him.

before jihoon could throw a new insult to get his attention, woojin turned away and took off sprinting.

jihoon shrugged and ran after him.

woojin turned back, noticed jihoon, and ran ever faster.

“why are you running?” jihoon yelled.

“because you’re chasing me you weirdo!” woojin screamed back.

he wasn’t chasing , he was just trying to have a conversation.

they stopped in front of woojin and daehwi’s door, and woojin finally turned back and faced him.

“what,” he drew a long shaky breath. “do you fucking want?”

jihoon opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by a muffled meow coming from the other side of the door.

he scrunched his nose in confusion. “what was that?”

woojin blocked the door with his entire body. “uuhh, just daehwi.”

jihoon inched closer. “daehwi makes a lot of strange noises, but i never heard him meow .”

“that wasn’t a meow, you imagined it,” woojin answered just as they heard another, more demanding meow.

“park woojin,” he put on his most angelic smile and took another step. “open that fucking door right now.”

he tried to meet his eyes but woojin looked away. damn, he just hated him that much huh.

woojin contemplated his options for a minute, and then sighed and opened the door.

 

jihoon was very impressed at how daehwi let woojin get away with keeping his side of the room this messy. a small pile of clothes was forming at the edge of his bed, his stack of heavy textbooks had an opened snack bag on top of it, his wall was a mismatched collage of posters and group photos he took at dance competitions. but most importantly, there was a white kitten napping on his pillow. it was so tiny that the pillow didn’t even sink under its weight.

turned out the reason he was sprinting was because daehwi told him that he had an unexpected group meeting and was going to leave the cat, which woojin had rescued a week before, alone in their dorm.

woojin himself was nervously fiddling with the drawstring of his black sweatpants. “you have to keep this a secret, i might get evicted.”

jihoon was a little offended that he actually thought he would tell on him, but he wasn’t going to waste this opportunity to get what he wants.

“i won’t,” woojin perked up, “...as long as you do as i say.”

woojin eyed him suspiciously. “what are you gonna make me do?”

jihoon bit the inside of his cheek, dreading what he’s about to say next. “you have to pretend to be my fake boyfriend.”

to his surprise, woojin visibly relaxed. “ooohhhh. yeah….that. sure.”

that’s it? no yelling? no disgusted noises? jihoon stepped out of his apartment that morning ready to fight , and he had to admit that he was a little disappointed.

“cool,” he said intelligently.

“cool,” woojin nodded. “i mean, for the kitten. i’ll do whatever it takes to protect him, even if it means dating you .”

it seemed like a stupid clarification knowing there would be absolutely no other reason for them to date to start with.

“kinda weird to hear you talk without punctuating your sentences with ‘asshole.’”

“oh you’d like that, you little asshole?”

what?

“what?”

“what.”

woojin’s face was as red as his hair. jihoon’s attempts to suppress his giggles failed spectacularly, he was on the floor laughing his ass off in a matter of seconds.

“fuck you! if you tell anyone about this i’m going to kill you!” he buried his face into his hands and flung himself back into the bed with a loud thud, startling the kitten. it jumped off the bed and made its way towards jihoon, who tensed up and backed into a corner.

“w-w-woojin,” no answer. “woojin that thing is attacking me.”

woojin gave him a questioning look. “it’s just a cat. you’ve never touched a cat in your life?”

the kitten blinked at jihoon and placed a soft paw on his leg. jihoon shrieked.

woojin took a few careful steps and gently lifted it off the floor. “it’s okay, baby,” he whispered softly, and jihoon’s chest inexplicably tightened. the kitten fit right into woojin’s hands, it pressed itself against his chest and stretched up to sniff his face. woojin kissed its tiny nose. “that was just my stupid boyfriend.”

he was ready to feel offended, get mad and disgusted that woojin would refer to him that way, but his insides were turning into a mush. this was terrible, jihoon wanted to crawl out to the door and never ever come back to this cute fluffy mess that was making experience emotions .

woojin turned his attention back to him. “do you want to hold it?” jihoon shook his head. “you’ve never held a cat before have you?” a nod.

woojin smiled at him, and jihoon wondered if it had always been this pretty. he’d never had the chance to look at it up close before. god, this was really terrible.

“my mom’s allergic, and i never wanted to get close to something that has….claws in the first place.” he looked down at the paws slash weapons of mass destruction that were still pressed against woojin’s chest.

“you’re going to have to get used to it if we’re going to date,” woojin cleared his throat. “ fake date.”

he turned the kitten towards jihoon with a pleading look that could rival the cutest and most innocent of puppies. it seemed reluctant to be held by jihoon, wiggling its body around woojin’s big hands. wise choice, little one, he thought to himself.

“you have to support his legs and make sure you don’t press hard on his stomach,” woojin instructed, and jihoon glared at him before giving in and taking it into his arms.

the kitten sniffed at his face curiously, and jihoon stopped moving and breathing in fear of getting attacked. he held onto it delicately, but it leaned into his hand and made a strange noise.

“w-w-woojin why is it vibrating what did i do,” he stammered, what did he fucking do to turn the cat into an engine? he held it away from him in disgust.

woojin couldn’t contain the amusement from his face. “he’s just purring! god, i can’t believe i’m dealing with a total cat noob here. no wonder we never got along,” he put his head between his hands dramatically. “an idiot who’s scared by a cat’s purring. oh man, wait until daehwi hears about this.” jihoon felt his face begin to heat up. he couldn’t just sit there and let park woojin mock him.

“okay. that’s it, fuck you i’m leaving.” he (very very slowly) put the cat on the ground, got up, and headed for the door when a tug on his shirt stopped him.

“give me your number,” woojin blurted out. “i mean, if we’re going through with this.”

right. jihoon started started to take his phone out when a sudden realization hit him.

he smirked. “are you down on your knees, begging me for my phone number?”

woojin let go of his shirt as if it had just caught on fire. “you know what, park jihoon? i hope you step on a thousand legos.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you my 2park soulmate tea for beta-ing this chapter!! i love you so much 

[2:51:23AM] PARK WOOJIN: hey asshole

[2:51:50AM] PARK WOOJIN: what are you doing this saturday?

[7:20:11AM] JIHOONIE ♡: first rule of dating park jihoon: don’t text me while i’m trying to get my beauty sleep.

[7:20:11AM] JIHOONIE ♡: that was your first offense, next time you’re getting blocked from my kakaotalk for 24 hours.

[8:00:35AM] PARK WOOJIN: i asked you a question.

[8:01:00AM] JIHOONIE ♡: i’m still checking my busy schedule.

[8:01:27AM] JIHOONIE ♡: i’ll get back to you in two to three business days.

[8:01:55AM] PARK WOOJIN: daehwi already told me you’re a loser with no friends or weekend plans. 

[8:02:20AM] PARK WOOJIN: university station at 11?

[8:30:59AM] JIHOONIE ♡: fuck you.

  
  


jihoon checked his reflection in the mirror of the shop at the station entrance. the sunglasses and mask had successfully concealed 70% of his face, but he still glanced around uneasily in fear of getting recognized. he couldn’t be seen outside of campus with  _ park woojin _ .

two hands slapped his shoulder from behind and made his heart drop straight to the floor. he turned around to smack his date’s head.

“good morning,” woojin greeted him loudly, flashing that annoying smile again. it was starting to make jihoon nauseous.

he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket and studied woojin carefully. he was better dressed than usual, a blue dress shirt and tight fitting jeans replacing the dark hoodies and sweatpants he usually wore to class. guilt washed over him when he saw the awkward look on woojin’s face and took off the mask and glasses.

“where are we going?” he asked, trying to play it cool.

he was surprised at woojin’s suggestion to “practice” being boyfriends. park woojin was still a near stranger to him, and things couldn’t stay this awkward between them when he finally introduces him as his boyfriend at the party that a few people from his department had been planning for the following week.

“well, first of all, did you have breakfast?” jihoon thought back to the banana he devoured right before leaving his apartment and shook his head. 

woojin extended his hand, and jihoon grabbed it reluctantly. it was nice and warm, kind of like his smile. “great! brunch is on me.”

 

they kept holding hands as they made their way through the station, inside the subway, and into the narrow alleyways until they reached a cozy and quiet cafe snuggled between small shops and family restaurants.

to jihoon’s surprise, the place  _ wasn’t _ another animal themed cafe. he was attacked with indie music and a sweet aroma as soon as he stepped in. it was a tiny place, only enough for 4 tables, each with their own mismatched chairs and colorful cushions.

“hey woojin!” a tall man with curly red hair and a bright smile yelled, and his face morphed into shock when he noticed their linked hands. “oh my god, woojinie brought a boy.” he ran into the back room screaming. “donghyun-ah, woojinie brought a boy!”

jihoon shot a nervous look at woojin, who stared at the floor, probably waiting for it to rip open and swallow him. “i didn’t know they were going to be so… dramatic about it. god, these hyungs are so embarrassing.”

donghyun, and the other guy, who is apparently called youngmin, stood eagerly by their table. “so what’s it gonna be today?”

woojin crossed his arms. “why do you both have to take our order?”

youngmin cleared his throat “we’re improving our customer service. so the usual for you? and what about your….?”

“jihoon.”

“your jihoon! what would you like, woojin’s jihoon?”

jihoon smiled sweetly up at them. “i’ll have whatever woojinie’s having,” he batted his eyelashes, and youngmin and donghyun exchanged bewildered looks.

“coming right up!”

after they finally left them alone, woojin took a deep breath and leaned back into his seat. “i come to this place a lot.”

“yeah, i figured.”

jihoon flipped that switch in his personality, from the sweet angel that everyone was used to  regular old demonic jihoon.

he cupped his face with his hands and leaned closer. “so, woojinie, how do you usually spend your weekends? since you’re not a loser with no friends.”

“please don’t call me that,” woojin said, his tone hostile despite the fake smile he was donning.

“we have to come up with nicknames for each other to make this more credible! what do you prefer? hoonie? angel? baby? i have a list i can send to you for reference.”

he was mostly joking about the last two, but woojin seemed to contemplate them for a long time. jihoon was beginning to learn that woojin was the type of person who took every word seriously, or at least just his.

“b-baby,” he mumbled shyly, and jihoon’s heart clenched. it was the cutest thing that anyone had ever called him. he wanted to cover his face in embarrassment, but one of them had to keep it together. “yes, honey?” it took every ounce of willpower for him to say it without breaking down.

“sorry to interrupt!” donghyun came back with a large serving of waffles and two large pink drinks. jihoon wasn’t sure what it was in them, but he knew it was probably sickeningly sweet. he noticed the hearts drawn on the plate with chocolate and looked up at woojin, who just shrugged his shoulders. “enjoy your meal,” the waiter winked at them before leaving.

“i usually head over here to study,” woojin answered the question that he forgot he even asked. “sewoon hyung, the one other guy who works here, brings his guitar and practices for his busking gigs with donghyun hyung, it helps me relax.”

_ likes acoustic music _ , jihoon noted mentally. “i thought you’d be someone who was more into….hip hop music.”

woojin smirked. “you asked daehwi about me?”

okay, fine. so he might have sat daehwi down and asked him every little detail about park woojin before going on this date. he liked to do his research, so what?

he learned that woojin moved from Busan when he was 19 after getting accepted into one of the best veterinary programs in the country, and that he spent most of his free time dancing in a studio run by his childhood friend. he also found out that woojin can barely dress himself, which meant that daehwi picked that outfit out for him. strangely, when he asked him if woojin was in a relationship recently or if he was interested in anyone, daehwi just smiled and refrained to answer. jihoon also learned some things about woojin on his own: he learned that woojin gets embarrassed easily, that his hands were warm and felt nice around his, and that he was good at saying things that made his heart flutter without even realizing it 

he shook these dangerous thoughts out of his head. “you probably did the same, dic- i mean  _ honey _ ,” he took a sip of the mystery pink drink and coughed. even sweeter than expected.

“i didn’t have to,” woojin said defensively.

what?

jihoon opened his mouth to ask what that meant, and woojin shoved in a large bite of the waffles in. “eat up, baby.” it sounded more natural this time.

he swallowed loudly. “anyway, i’d like to see you dance sometime, it sounds cool,” he realized that he was implying that he was actually interested in woojin’s life. “i mean, for  _ research. _ ”

woojin nodded and took out a notebook and pen.

“what are you doing?” jihoon stood up and tried to take a peek.

“this is my fake boyfriend to-do list,” woojin set the notebook on the table, and sure enough, he had a long list of activities scribbled in his messy handwriting. jihoon was relieved to see that  _ date with jinyoung and daehwi _ wasn’t on it.

“couple outfits,” he read out loud. “i like it, we should totally wear something like that to the party.”

they chose the event to come public with their relationship because jihoon knew that all of guanlin’s friends, and everyone who would gossip about park jihoon getting a boyfriend were going to be present. it was the perfect time to shut down the rumors and end the speculation about his identity for good.

that, and jihoon relished in the thought of being part of a power couple that everyone envied and talked about, all without putting in the effort of actually dating someone. his personality was fake to begin with, so getting a fake boyfriend seemed like the next logical step.

woojin hummed in agreement. “wanna go shopping after this?

 

it only took an hour for their peacefulness to come to an end, which was still longer than woojin expected.

“this is the most hideous shirt i’ve ever seen in my entire life,” jihoon told him flatly, before ripping it from his hand and putting it back in its place.

“fuck you, this was the best one i’ve picked out today,” woojin pouted. “and i refuse to wear the jigglypuff sweater  _ you _ chose.”

“park woojin,” jihoon smiled as he applied pressure on the hand he was holding. “i will not be seen in a tie dye shirt in 2017.”

woojin winced, but didn’t let go. they somehow turned handholding into a competition to see who would let go first, and he was constantly on the verge of losing. this was the fifth store they’ve entered, and woojin should have known that there was no way in hell that he and jihoon would ever agree on one item.

he had to admit that jihoon looked cute in pink. he looked cute in everything he’s picked up, and he’d sometimes point at something that he knew woojin would hate and turn back to him with a teasing, devilish smile. it made him feel a little dizzy.

woojin hadn’t imagined them in this type of situation before. other things, sure, but never an  _ actual date _ . he figured that at most, their sexual tension would be resolved in a few makeout sessions. was this better or worse? he really wasn’t sure.

jihoon’s eyes caught a hoodie with bunny ears attached to it, and woojin exclaimed “no” before he could even point to it. he thought he would just drop it after shooting him down for the millionth time that day, but instead jihoon clung to his arm and wiggled his shoulders. “woojinie, honey, pwease?” he said loudly enough for everyone in the store to stare them. as if park jihoon wasn’t already turning heads everywhere they went.

yeah, dating this demon was definitely worse.

“actually, i have a better idea,” he dragged jihoon out of the store and into a small accessory shop. “if we actually try to find something that we can both agree on we’re gonna be here all day.” 

jihoon’s attention was already devoted to the silver trinkets and chains, scanning each item carefully. woojin rolled down a sleeve to show the worn bracelet around his wrist. a green band with a small name plate that has his initials on it. “my dance crew from back home decided to get matching ones before our last performance together,” he stroked it fondly.

“cute,” jihoon said, and dangled a necklace with a rabbit charm on it. “but not as cute as this.” 

he pulled woojin to a corner filled with animal charms. he looked back and forth between them and woojin while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “hmmm, they don’t have a dickhead shaped one, and you have to match my rabbit, so we’re gonna have to find a cute animal for you,” he heaved as if it was the most difficult task in the world.

in the end, they settled on a bird for him (jihoon held it up to his face and declared that it was a 99% match), and paired each necklace with the first letter of each other’s names.

later, as they sat down for ice cream at the end of the day, jihoon threatened to murder him if he ever lost it. “you’ll be dead, dickhead,” he yelled out and made an ugly screeching sound. “it feels good to say it after so long! dickhead dickhead dickhead,” he sing-songed happily.

woojin snickered. “you have no business threatening people with ice cream on your nose,” he wiped white stain off with his thumb and licked it.

“gross!” jihoon scrunched his face, but still looked infuriatingly adorable in the process. “that was an indirect nose kiss!”

if you asked woojin what the fuck was going through his mind at that moment, he would just shrug and shake his head. blank. his mind was a total blank. maybe jihoon had the right idea when he constantly called him an idiot.

he kissed the tip of jihoon’s nose and said, “well now it’s a direct one,” before running off.

jihoon chased after him screaming. “that was my first nose kiss and you stole it from me!”

it was a pretty good fake first date, if he could say so himself.

 

“i can’t believe i lived to see this happen,” daehwi said as he wiped his dry eyes. jinyoung cooed and pet his head affectionately. 

“you didn’t,” jihoon answered sharply. “this isn’t happening for real.”

“you’re sitting on woojin’s bed, with woojin’s cat on your lap, fixing woojin’s hair, i think this is as real as it’s gonna get.”

it did look a little questionable, but jihoon had an explanation. he couldn’t sit on daehwi’s bed when jinyoung was always there (like this very moment), that stupid cat had taken a liking to him and he couldn’t pry it away no matter how much he tried, and he couldn’t go to the party with woojin’s red hair looking like a mess. they already spent the past two hours picking out an outfit for him, something casual but fashionable. jihoon also had to make sure that their necklaces were visible.

daehwi knew all this, but still decided to tease him because he’s a real piece of shit. when all this is over, jihoon decided that he should open up applications for a new best friend.

“fuck you.”

“yeah daehwi, do i look like i’m having a good time here?” woojin interjected, and daehwi replied with a mysterious smile and a raised eyebrow. 

“i don’t know, are you?”

jihoon waited for woojin to defend himself, but he just remained silent. that coward was no match for daehwi. “we’re not! shut up and leave us alone.”

“that’s not a very nice way to talk to the people babysitting your cat,” jinyoung scoffed. he picked it up and puckered his lips. “you’d rather spend your time with us than your shitty parents, wouldn’t you?” he said to the cat, which responded by smacking his nose with its tiny paw and wiggling its way out of his hands and back into jihoon’s lap.

“call me that creature’s parent one more time, fucker,” jihoon said, but still caressed the kitten’s head. it only took a few more visits to woojin and daehwi’s dorm room for him to get used to touching it. he realized that they weren’t so different: the cat was soft and cute and adored by everyone, it demanded attention all the time, scratching and biting everyone as it pleased, but most importantly, it enjoyed making woojin’s life a living hell.

woojin took out his notebook once again. “let’s go over everything again,” jihoon nodded and scooted closer to him so they could read their notes together.

“you’re  _ studying _ for this?” jinyoung asked, bewildered.

“fucking nerds,” daehwi scoffed.

 

woojin stared blankly at the bottles lining up the table in front of him. being around complete strangers who knew each other for years was even more mortifying than he thought it would be, and he almost backed out before jihoon calmed him down and made him run through their practiced lines for the thirteenth time.

their linked hands were just for show, but jihoon would still occasionally stroke his thumb against the back of his hand and give him a reassuring smile whenever he looked a bit too nervous. 

woojin knew he had to keep his thoughts grounded. he knew this was going nowhere, despite daehwi’s firm belief that it was. still, he liked to shut off the rational side of his brain sometimes and pretend that he was living an alternate reality where all of this was real.

“...back when jihoon and i were dating.”

his head shot up, catching only the last part of the conversation.

the words came out from a beautiful girl with a mysterious expression that made her look like she knows all the secrets to the universe. he tried to remember her name from when jihoon introduced him to all his friends earlier that night.

she laughed at woojin’s reaction. “looks like i finally got your boyfriend’s attention.”

“kim yerim,” jihoon said, his voice tired but a little fond. “that one week in our first year does not count.”

yerim crossed her arms. “and all the times we hooked up before, during, and after?”

“that was before i realized you were just using me for notes!”

“we were in a mutually beneficial relationship, and you got the bigger benefit of dating the hottest person in civil.”

“everyone knows that i’m the hottest person in civil, yerim.” jihoon replied.

they glared at each other for what felt like hours, and woojin wondered if jihoon would notice if he slipped away and left the restaurant without saying a word. he never thought that someone as demonic and sinister as park jihoon existed, but there she was.

the atmosphere between the two of them was completely different, more similar to how jihoon was with daehwi than he was with him. they had that kind of history and familiarity that woojin was still, slowly but surely, building with jihoon. 

his face felt even warmer than before, his clothes were clinging a little too tightly to his body for his liking, and god, if only he could run his hands through his stupid perfectly styled hair. he was really out of his element in this place, the twenty or so engineering students there either ogled him curiously from a distance or drunkenly asked him inappropriate questions about his and jihoon’s relationship. guanlin, the ‘target’, hadn’t even said a single thing to them all night. he was sitting at another table with other underclassmen and seonho, who fit right in with the rest of them.

yerim must have noticed his uncomfortable squirming, because she was the first to break the silence. “i should probably head back early, i’m sure my  _ girlfriend _ ,” she paused, and woojin hated how the knot in his stomach evaporated instantly. “wouldn’t like it if i got back home at 3am.”

jihoon waved with both of their hands. “say hi to saeron for me.”

“she told me to stay away from you,” she yelled as she headed out, eliciting a few laughs from their other classmates.

“these idiots probably think it’s because she’s jealous,” he whispered to woojin, “but it’s actually because yerim challenged me to a fight one time and nearly broke my arm.”

woojin choked on his soju, turning into a mess of laughter and coughing. 

“gee, good to know that the only thing that can make you smile tonight is a story about my misfortune,” he added, but continued to tell him about all the times that yerim made his life hell, all while threatening to break his arm too if he ever shared them with anybody.

if jihoon’s plan was to help him relax, it was working spectacularly. it was a lot easier when jihoon’s attention was entirely dedicated to him, and he could forget that at least three people were staring at them.

“what was she saying, before you guys started arguing?” he asked.

jihoon froze, and that sinking feeling started to creep back into woojin.

“she said that he never looked at her the way he looks at you when they were dating,” guanlin dropped down on yerim’s unoccupied seat heavily, his words slurring together. seonho followed after, as if guanlin had a seonho magnet attached to him.

he smiled at them apologetically, like he was saying  _ i’m sorry my best friend is drunk out of his mind right now _ .

before woojin, could say anything, or even process what guanlin just fucking said to him, jihoon initiated their practiced conversation. 

“i’m sorry i kept it from you,” jihoon sounded so sincere that woojin himself wanted to tell him that he forgives him. “i-i- just didn’t want you to be awkward around woojin every time you bumped into each other, you know?”

guanlin rested his head on his hand, his half closed eyes barely focusing on him, completely unimpressed.

“what’s jihoon hyung’s favorite color?” 

“what?” woojin was prepared for a lot of questions, but this was not one of them.

“i’m testing you to make sure you’re worthy of dating him,”

seonho looked mortified and tried to drag him away. guanlin freed himself from him easily.

“guanli-”

“what’s jihoon hyung’s favorite animal? “ his voice was getting louder, and woojin was sure that more than three people were staring at them now. “boom! trick question, hyung hates animals.”

“guanlin,” seonho tried again, his tone more urgent. “we really really need to go.” 

jihoon looked just about as horrified as woojin felt, the plan that they had been working on for two weeks was completely overthrown because they didn’t consider the possibility of guanlin getting piss drunk and throwing his all his reservations of the window. woojin felt bad thinking about how terrible he will feel when he wakes up the next morning and realize what he did.

they had to improvise, which, despite his calculating nature, woojin knew jihoon was bad at. 

guanlin wanted a grand proclamation of love, and he only knew one way he could give him one.

he grabbed jihoon by the collar and smashed their lips together.

it’s awkward at first, with the bitter taste of alcohol on jihoon’s lips, their noses clashing together, and the instant regret settling in when he realized he just made it painfully clear to everyone in the room that they’ve never kissed before. but then jihoon kissed him back, he exhaled softly against his face and made out the tiniest satisfied hum that sends shivers down woojin’s spine. he pulled away for a split second to tilt his head and kiss him again, gentler this time, and sneaked an arm around his waist to pull him closer. the taste of jihoon’s lips made him feel more drunk than any of the alcohol he had that night. the world around them was disappearing, and woojin forgot why they were even kissing, he just knew that he wanted to continue doing it for the next two, preferably three hours.

jihoon finally pulled away, flushed a pretty, dusty pink and a little breathless. his lips were shiny and his eyes had that mischievous spark that were luring woojin back in. 

_ she said that he never looked at her the way he looks at you when they were dating _

loud cheers erupted around them, and jihoon scratched his neck and looked down in faux embarrassment. 

right, this was all for show.

guanlin was already on his way out, bumping into several tables before getting to his coat. seonho trailed behind him, he wrapped the coat and scarf around guanlin’s tall frame and pat his back as they stepped into the cold together.

jihoon exhaled loudly and slouched, he looked like his soul was slowly escaping his body. he contemplated the bottles in front of him before grabbing the closest one to him and taking a big swig from it.

it didn’t end the way woojin thought it would, with the two of them laughing and high fiving and congratulating each other on succeeding with that idiotic plan. the party around them was beginning to fizzle out, leaving behind a hollow empty feeling. it felt more like finding out you’ve barely passed a class rather than getting an A. sure, you got the result you wanted, but it came with that horrible aftertaste that takes forever to go away.

soon, everyone had left with the exception of the two of them and another couple making out in the corner. the two workers at the restaurants were quietly cleaning the empty tables, and didn’t seem to mind their presence that much.

jihoon tried to rest his head against woojin’s shoulder, but missed and landed on his lap instead. he made that soft content humming noise again and closed his eyes. 

woojin wasn’t nearly drunk enough to deal with this.

he had two options: he could either wake jihoon up and call a cab for him, or stay still, pretend that the context is a bit different since, as daehwi said, this was as real as it’s ever going to be.

jihoon’s body was warm, his soft, still flushed cheeks were pressed against woojin’s thigh, and woojin wanted to squish them and pepper them with kisses. even his little sleeping habits were adorable, he balled his hands into fists and puckered his lips as he shifted his weight a little so he could be more comfortable on his new pillow. woojin instinctively moved his hand to stroke his hair when he suddenly turned to face up to woojin and opened his eyes.

“woojin-ah,” he mumbled. “why did you steal my best friend?”

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi!!!! i'm so sorry for being late, the semester is almost over and i got busier than i thought i would be. the final chapter should be out after my finals are done (a couple of weeks from now).
> 
> thanks tea for beta-ing again ilu!!!
> 
> (also pls enjoy these tiny cameos from my favorite 99line kids)

 

“i think that’s everything,” jihoon said breathlessly. it took them forever to get daehwi’s mountain of luggage into the dorm building and up onto the ninth floor, in front of the room that he was going to spend his freshman year in. how all these things were supposed to fit inside that tiny space was a total mystery to jihoon, who had spent a semester in these halls before moving into the box he calls his apartment.

“are you not going to open the door?” he questioned daehwi, who was just standing there, his fresh dorm id in hand, hovering over the knob.

“they said my roommate already arrived,” daehwi squeaked. “park woojin, vet major. what if he’s a colossal asshole? what if he snores when he sleeps? what if he has shitty taste in music? what i-”

jihoon threw an arm around his shoulders. “he’s gonna have to put in extra effort to be more annoying than you.” he hadn’t seen daehwi look this nervous since he first transferred to his high school. their super fun move-in day plans had been going well until this point, daehwi was in high spirits the entire morning, mostly because jihoon promised to treat him to dinner after they finished unpacking. 

daehwi elbowed him in the ribs, and jihoon yelled out in pain before breaking into a fit of giggles, easing the tension. just as he was about to take the card from his hand and open the damn door himself, it burst open from the other side.

park woojin, vet major, potential colossal asshole looked like he just woke up, his hair was frazzled and his his eyes were just barely open enough to look at them. a cute potential colossal asshole, jihoon noted. “oh, there are two of you. why are there  two of you?” he dug into his shirt and started scratching his belly.

“i am-” jihoon began, but was cut off by a very nervous daehwi, whose voice was still two octaves higher than normal.

“daehwi! i’m lee daehwi and that’s just my best friend jihoon,”  _ just? _ “i-i’m sorry if i woke you up i got really excited and actually woke up for this at five in the morning, uh, i usually get up really early i hope that doesn’t bother you p-park….sunbae?”

woojin pulled him into a bear hug, and jihoon’s jaw dropped to the floor. daehwi did not like being touched by strangers, but he tightened his grip around woojin’s ratty gray t-shirt. “welcome kid,” he said and squished daehwi’s face in his hands. “there’s nothing to worry about, and you can call me hyung.”

it went a lot, lot, better than jihoon was expecting. and he wasn’t sure why he wasn’t as pleased about it as he thought he should be.

 

yerim popped a slice of meat into her mouth. “you need to chill out dude, it’s just one dinner.”

“i am chilled out, i’m not upset about this at all. you’re the one who’s acting weird,” jihoon replied defensively. yeah, he might have been complaining about daehwi bailing on him for that woojin guy that he literally just met today, but he wasn’t  _ mad _ . he doesn’t care that much, and he didn’t invite yerim out instead because he felt lonely and wanted someone to listen to him whine through the night or anything, he was just feeling generous today. that’s all.

but also, it’s been one day, they barely know each other and woojin is already inviting daehwi out? who does he think he is? that’s park jihoon’s best friend, who already had plans with park jihoon. now that he thinks of it, jihoon realized that woojin didn’t even look at him when they met in that stinky hallway. how could anyone look at him and not get lost in his big beautiful eyes? now that was a good reason for him to get offended.

“i don’t know, i haven’t seen you this worked up since i scored higher than you in that calc midterm,” yerim said nonchalantly. she was more interested in draining jihoon’s wallet than listening to his woes.

“i wasn’t mad about that either! the professor just made a mistake and took off half a point, which he rewarded back to me because-”

“you begged him to and he wanted you off his back?”

“because i deserved it!” they’ve been having this argument for over a year.

yerim exhaled and gestured for the waiter to bring her another bottle of soju.

 

jihoon wasn’t upset, just like he wasn’t upset when he didn’t see daehwi again for the next three days, who was always texting him about how hilarious and wonderful and kind woojin was. so what? jihoon could be all these things too. well, maybe not kind but he was still the most wonderful and hilarious person daehwi has ever met, and he’s handsome too which makes up for the lack of kindness (and really, who needs that? he was preparing daehwi for this harsh world). 

things were fine when jinyoung finally came into the picture, on the first day of orientation, and he and daehwi madly fell in love from the start. but woojin’s presence was unacceptable to him somehow. he was scared to admit it, but it was like there was that spot in daehwi’s life,  _ his _ spot, and woojin was competing for it. the favorite hyung, the best friend, the person who would pick up the phone at 3am to listen to daehwi ramble for hours about how soft jinyoung’s hands felt the first time he held them. it just, it didn’t feel good when jihoon would text daehwi telling him to come over and getting a string of apologies that almost always contained woojin’s name.

to his credit, it wasn’t like daehwi wasn’t trying. he attempted to invite jihoon to their outings, but jihoon had already started hating woojin after that first night, and there was no way he would voluntarily spend time with that annoying, snaggle toothed, best friend stealing dickhead after that.

“i just don’t get it,” daehwi pouted as he squeezed one of jihoon’s hundred plushies. “you two would get along so well.” 

_ i have to share your time with him. _

“can i study in peace without you bringing him up?” jihoon replied, a little more harshly than he intended. he didn’t want to look up from his textbook and see the hurt look on daehwi’s face. the sudden silence was enough to reel it in.

he left soon after, making some hurried excuses and apologizing for bothering jihoon so much while he was studying.  

jihoon knew he had taken it a bit too far then. he was being his usual idiotic self and forgetting all about daehwi’s feelings. sharing his best friend with that asshole wasn’t enough reason to jeopardize the closest relationship he’s ever managed to maintain with his thorny personality.

he ran out and caught after daehwi in the hallway, who smiled widely when jihoon offered to take him out on that dinner they never went to on that first day.

warming up to woojin was never going to happen though, not in a million years if he could help it. he could make daehwi happy all he wants, but jihoon didn’t want to be in the picture when it happened. and he was sure he was going to succeed at keeping this up until the day of his graduation.

or so he thought, until guanlin had to come in and confess and ruin the perfectly set distance that jihoon worked so, so hard to maintain.

  
  


jihoon woke up sunday morning on the floor with the worst headache he’s ever had in his life. he looked around his apartment groggily. he couldn’t remember what happened between the time shortly after guanlin left the restaurant and now, but it all seemed completely normal at the park palace, the neat row of stuffed animals on his couch, the bed he never bothered to make, that video game he promised to return to jinyoung three months ago under his tv, and woojin making breakfast in the kitchen.

wait.

jihoon clutched the blanket to his chest, despite the fact that he was fully clothed, and screamed.

woojin jumped and dropped the ladle (jihoon’s ladle) he was holding into the simmering pot (jihoon’s pot!). “you’re up,” he said, voice a little shaky, like he just narrowly escaped getting a heart attack. “you couldn’t make it all the way to the bed so i just left you there with a blanket,” how jihoon ended up on the floor instead of the bed was really the least of his worries at the moment. “you also said that the floor was lava and you wanted it to consume you,” woojin recited. he didn’t question that part, it definitely sounded like something he would say.

woojin seemed to suddenly remember a crucial detail. “oh, daehwi gave me the passcode to your apartment and ordered me to take care of you until you woke up,” why hasn’t he murdered daehwi yet? why does woojin listen to daehwi’s stupid fucking commands? “i took the bed while the lava burned you alive.”

jihoon was very tempted to grab him and throw him out of his apartment, but he was still so sleepy that he could barely lift his head up from the pillow, and whatever it was that woojin was cooking, it smelled so fucking good. he closed his eyes with a deep sigh and went back to sleep.

woojin woke him up around 30 minutes later. his voice sounded so gentle and the light grip he had on his shoulder as he shook him awake was so comforting that jihoon wanted to just push him down and cuddle as he continued his sleep.

but his foggy brain was clearing up with every shake until he remembered that he was park jihoon and this was his fake boyfriend and frenemy (recently upgraded from mortal enemy) park woojin, who had no business sounding so wonderful and soft and caring. he got up and made a beeline to the bathroom. the reflection that greeted him as he brushed his teeth was of a jihoon who made a lot of mistakes last night and worst of all, had trouble remembering most of them.

“what time is it?” he yelled out to woojin.

“uuhhh, almost noon?”

_ fuck _ . he was supposed to wake up early and spend the rest of the day at the library. midterm week was coming up and he was already behind on his usual studying schedule because he wasted so much time doing useless stuff like getting a boyfriend.

but to be fair, he needed a lot of alcohol in his system to deal with the sight of a hurt, messed up guanlin. he didn’t know what to expect, for guanlin to congratulate them? for his crush to just completely disappear and stop being such an  _ inconvenience _ in jihoon’s life? he felt horrible, his plan had a lot of flaws but the biggest of them all was that he didn’t think of the aftermath. he was scared to check his phone (wherever it was), because he knew that his friend had probably already sent him an apology for his (mostly) justified behavior. he splashed water on his face and went out to the mess that he had created and now had no way to get out of.

woojin had already set the table for two, but was nowhere to be found. jihoon started to question whether he imagined that he was there when he walked back in with two cups of coffee from the cafe downstairs. god, could he stop being such a good boyfriend for a second?

it turned out, surprisingly, that woojin can actually cook. the stew he had prepared rivaled his own mother’s, and jihoon mentally thanked himself for not kicking him out after all.

“we just started dating and i’m already sleeping at your house,” woojin joked. “i wonder how everyone will react when we announce our breakup next week.”

jihoon stopped mid bite. “who said anything about a breakup?” he hadn’t even thought about them breaking up or what the consequences will be. they could have gotten fake married and went on a fake honeymoon and bought a fake house and had three beautiful fake kids (much cuter than daehwi and jinyoung’s) before that even crossed his mind. “no, no, we can’t break up now, right after we announced it so dramatically last night. we’re gonna have to keep this up for a couple of months to make it, you know, more believable,” was what jihoon was trying to convince himself. he didn’t want to pull away from this, he wasn’t ready.

and yeah, maybe he wanted more opportunities for woojin to kiss him again. that idiot woojin probably thought that jihoon was just acting last night, but the truth was that his body just moved on its own, like it was parched. it was nice, all of it was nice, their date and kiss and this stupid breakfast. he wanted to keep doing it for a little longer, and maybe the hit that his gpa was going to take is worth it.

woojin shrugged. “i guess,” he checked his phone and frowned. 

“you heading somewhere after this?” jihoon asked. he sorta wanted to go back on the floor and scream and deal with his emotions, but he also didn’t want woojin to leave.

“uh, yeah. i’m going to the library to study,” he paused. “wanna come with?”

it seemed like woojin didn’t want to let go either.

 

park woojin just had the strangest night of his life.

after the restaurant finally closed, he slipped into a cab with jihoon, who proceeded to tell the driver all about how woojin supposedly stole his best friend years ago and continued to rub it in his face. he was sure that jihoon was going to burst into tears at several points during the ride home, but he hadn’t seen jihoon cry like, ever, and he didn’t want this to be the first time.

woojin’s life was a lot easier when he thought that jihoon was just mean to him because he was an asshole. he was so fucking uncomfortable and embarrassed about this entire affair, mostly because the whole sexual tension thing was entirely in his head.

no, park jihoon was not, at any point (not even during their kiss) attracted to him.

he was just angry because woojin had the audacity to randomly get assigned as his best friend’s roommate. still, it was honestly really, really cute. he wasn’t aware that jihoon could experience emotions like jealousy, and not as intensely as this. the more he dug into the enigma that was jihoon’s personality, the more terrible and petty and childish he turned out to be. and boy, was woojin’s weird crush on him just growing bigger as a result. he wondered what jihoon would do if he got close to someone while they were dating.

if only jihoon liked him enough to have that kind of reaction.

jinyoung’s disgusted face flashed through his mind. yeah, woojin should keep these thoughts to himself.

drunk jihoon was really into cuddling, and he practically hung off woojin like a koala as he tried to get him to his apartment. woojin grabbed into his waist to keep him still, but jihoon just leaned back into him and closed his eyes to take another nap. he tsked and scooped jihoon off the ground, who wrapped his arms around his neck and let out a high pitched  _ wheeeeee _ .

jihoon buried his face into woojin’s chest and sighed. “feel like a prince.”

could he hear the loud pounding of woojin’s heart? his cuteness was getting unbearable, he never signed up for this. jihoon was right, even though he was a wasted mess, he still looked like a charming prince to woojin, and woojin pictured himself as his knight in shining armor, saving him from sleeping on the streets.

“what’s your passcode?” woojin said when he realized jihoon wasn’t going to get down and open the door himself.

“thirty…..twelve….ninety five,” jihoon murmured.

woojin kicked the door open to reveal jihoon’s small and cozy apartment. there it was, mission accomplished. he lowered his prince charming into the ground, but jihoon’s iron grip around his neck only got tighter. “woojinie,” he reached into woojin’s ear. “don’t leave. you’re not allowed to leave.” his mumbling was nearly unintelligible, but woojin caught every word. 

woojin nodded slowly, and jihoon smiled and let go. “you better not walk out that door while i’m asleep, i’ll get up and drag you back in.” woojin was doubtful that he was physically capable of this, seeing as he could barely keep his own head up.

“you’re  _ trapping _ me here?” sober jihoon’s commands always had this dark, sinister undertone to them, but drunk jihoon sounded like a bratty kid who had never been told the word no in his life. woojin felt more compelled to follow the latter’s.

“that’s right!” jihoon twisted on the floor and shot finger guns into the ceiling. “you’re under arrest for best friend theft….and having cute teeth.”

jihoon liked his  _ teeth _ ?

“well, officer park, can you get up and go to bed then?” woojin grimaced as he thought of how much his back was going to suffer from sleeping on jihoon’s uncomfortable couch.

“no!” jihoon’s whiny voice was truly something that’s been summoned from the deepest pits of hell.

after a lot of pushing and struggling, woojin finally gave up and flopped on the bed, but not before rummaging through the apartment to find a pillow, blanket, and a glass of water for jihoon to down in one go before finally passing out.

 

close to twenty four hours of woojin’s company. what was even happening to his life now.

jihoon sat down with the cat while waiting for woojin to take a quick shower before going on their not study date. it flipped over on its back with its paws up in the air and blinked as if it was telling jihoon look at  _ how fucking cute i am _ . this creature really knew all his tricks. he scratched its belly and it nibbled on his fingers lightly, which, after multiple explanations from woojin, jihoon understood as a sign of affection. he was starting to like this room more than his own apartment. after avoiding it in the past due to woojin’s….existence, it slowly turned into his unofficial group’s hang out place this semester. woojin’s messy bed, kitten and all, was his new favorite spot. woojin came out of the steamy bathroom wearing nothing but a towel around his waist and jihoon averted his eyes immediately. since when were they on shirtless terms? it was a given that woojin, with his dancing background, had a nice body under his baggy clothes but jihoon was still really taken aback. as if his recent strong attraction to woojin wasn’t bad enough, he had to go and do this too. 

“did you see my dog socks?” woojin asked while rummaging through his closet.

“which ones?”

“blue.”

jihoon thought hard for a minute. “check the second drawer.”

“found em! thanks ba- jihoon,” woojin corrected himself quickly and jihoon flushed. this was normal. it was fine because they practiced saying it so many times. totally.

once woojin was finally dressed, he went through his pile of textbooks, trying to decide which course he was at most risk of failing at the moment.

“are you really going out in the cold with your hair like that?” jihoon grabbed the blow dryer from daehwi’s side of the room and shoved woojin down into the bed. he ran his hands through the wet red strands swiftly, not realizing that woojin was completely frozen under him. jihoon’s tugs turned into soft strokes as he worked through his hair. gentler than he should have been, loaded with unspoken affection that he was still coming in terms with. woojin must have noticed too, because he stammered that he could do it himself but jihoon, pretending not to hear under the loud noise of the dryer, continued his work.

“you’re all set,” jihoon whispered when he finished, running his fingers through woojin’s hair one last time. he looked down to see woojin staring up at him, his expression unreadable. there was a moment of tension then, a tiny spark charging the distance between them. and in any other situation, between any pairing except them, jihoon would have dropped down to kiss him. but he couldn’t, and so he didn’t.

instead, he watched as woojin quietly slipped out from under him to refill the cat’s bowl and then beat him to the door.

 

it was a miracle they managed to find seats in the library this late into the day, and jihoon felt like he was the only person on campus whose top concern wasn’t passing his midterms. to him, a study session with someone else was usually a total joke. it always went like this: they make a clear plan of what they want to accomplish for the day, freak out because of the massive amount of work they have to do in a limited amount of time, blame the professors for it, complain about the professors for at least another hour, take a coffee break, study for thirty minutes and then head home. but with woojin, things went very differently. for starters, he actually buried himself in his notes the second they arrived, then turned down jihoon’s offer to buy coffee, and he wasn’t even interested in hearing the fifty reasons why jihoon’s academic advisor was the worst person in the college of engineering. he was left with no option but, god forbid, actually study. 

actually, no. fuck that, he had more urgent matters to attend to. he wasn’t dumb, he could see how woojin’s behavior around him shifted, no matter how subtle he tried to be about it. so what exactly happened last night? he grabbed his phone (lasted a solid four minutes without touching it) to investigate.

“i gave woojin the passcode and told him to take care of you,” came daehwi’s swift reply to his question.

“that’s it?”

“as far as i know,” he answered cryptically.

jihoon frowned. he felt like his unattended notebook and laptop were judging him as he got up to grab his third coffee that day.

someone tapped his back lightly while he waited in line at the busy cafe, and he turned around to see dayoung, another girl from his major, smiling brightly at him. an idea popped in his head. he grabbed her shoulder. “dayoung, when did you leave the restaurant last night?”

she tilted her head and pressed a finger to her lips. “hmm, pretty late, but it was before you did,” she pinched his arm playfully. “congrats on finally getting a cute boyfriend by the way, everyone thought you were gonna keep moping about yerim forever.”

jihoon rolled his eyes.

“oh! i almost forgot, chan said he saw you sleeping on woojin’s? lap. so adorable!”

he didn’t know how to respond to that, so he stood there with his mouth hanging while dayoung, who seemed genuinely happy for him, chattered on and then realized she was late to a group meeting and left in a hurry.

well, at least he knew one of the potentially many horrible things that he did. jihoon knew he turned into a disgusting mush of emotions whenever he drank too much. there was an instance where he kissed all his friends and cried because they all stuck with him even though he was a cold hearted asshole. he doesn’t remember that, of course, but jinyoung brought it up so often that it never escaped his mind.

it was very likely that he slipped and said something of a similar vein to woojin. perhaps he confessed his eternal love to him? did he even feel that way about woojin? he didn’t know, but drunk jihoon probably did.

jihoon returned to see woojin in the exact same position he was when he left him, and his chest flittered with affection. he was biting his lips in concentration while jotting down notes furiously, eyes darting from the lecture playing on his laptop to the messy scribbles on his notebook. woojin did everything so earnestly that jihoon couldn’t help but admire him. he was left with no choice but to forget last night’s antics for now and concentrate on getting some work done. fake boyfriends could be a good influence after all.

 

the midterms came and went, and jihoon and woojin spent most of their time studying together, atin jihoon’s place on the weekdays and donghyun and youngmin’s cafe during the weekends. woojin wasn’t sure when the turning point was, but it became less about keeping up appearances and more about them genuinely enjoying their time together. jihoon was growing more and more attached to the cat, woojin caught him calling it tata on more than one occasion, and it almost always responded to the name. their current relationship was almost dreamlike, and woojin still couldn’t believe it every time jihoon asked him to hang out after class or showed up to his dorm uninvited. 

they had a lot of really close encounters like the hair drying incident that always resulted in either of them pulling away at the last second and endless pent up frustration for woojin. he couldn’t shake off what jihoon said to him that night, and it was driving woojin insane because he was like a ticking bomb. he was always wondering when jihoon was going to reveal his feelings to him while sober, but it just never happened. the fact that jihoon never drank too much while he was around did not go unnoticed by him either. it didn’t help that a voice at the back of his head kept telling him that he was making a mistake, that jihoon didn’t mean it, or at least he didn’t in the way that woojin hoped for.

it was all too good to be true, and could end at any second now, jihoon just had to say the words. woojin knew he could never do it himself.

 

woojin came back from classes one afternoon to find jihoon curled up on his bed with tata snuggled up against him. he smiled fondly and tiptoed over to occupy the small space left for him. jihoon was sleeping soundly, the sunlight casting its rays against his dewy skin and the bunny charm around his neck was glittering. woojin was extra careful not to make a single sound and disrupt the peacefulness. he knew jihoon had been so busy with an important group project for the past couple of weeks, to the point where they could barely see each other anymore, since he spent every waking minute with his group members. jihoon texted him the words ‘finally submitted’ in all caps with a hundred exclamation points an hour earlier, but he failed to mention that he was going to take a celebratory nap with his (their?) cat. not that woojin minded though, this was the best thing that he could ever come home to after a long day. 

he started to fall asleep too when jihoon started to regain consciousness.

“woojin-ah?” he called to him faintly, unbothered by the fact that woojin might have broken one the invisible boundaries that they’ve built between them. 

“hmm?”

“i did it, i’m finally done,” jihoon said.

“and i’m proud of you,” woojin replied, brushing a stray hair from his face. jihoon grabbed his hand before he could pull it away and interlocked their fingers. he hummed happily, and woojin smiled in return. 

it was silence after that, and woojin closed his eyes, thinking this was the end of their conversation, when jihoon spoke up again.

“hey, woojin-ah?” he said, scooting closer, despite the fact that they were already impossibly close.

“yeah?” woojin replied breathlessly, his heart threatening to pop out of his chest. their foreheads were touching now, and jihoon’s lips were only a breath away from his. he couldn’t help but look down at them, they were as pretty and full and shiny as ever, slightly open in a tempting invitation that he just could not refuse anymore. 

“you can do it if you want to,” jihoon muttered, a rosy blush was forming in his cheeks but he looked perfectly content, as confident as ever.

so woojin did.

it was worlds away from their first kiss, starting off a lot slower, a lot more gentle. and despite that, woojin liked it better because jihoon reciprocated right away, whispering a tiny  _ yes  _ against his mouth and moving to stroke woojin’s face with his thumb. they only managed to pull away from each other for a few seconds before jihoon leaned back in again and again, pulling him closer hungrily, sometimes missing his mouth and landing on the corner of his lips, on his cheeks, slightly down to his neck. it was a million times better than him asking woojin not to leave, every little touch spoke to him louder than anything jihoon could say, erasing every hint of doubt he had before. he gripped jihoon’s waist and watched in satisfaction as he shivered under his touch. woojin quickly learned that jihoon was sensitive, easily melting and making approved noises at everything that woojin did. jihoon ended up snuggled up in his arms, his consciousness drifting as he pressed a few more sloppy pecks on woojin’s neck.

they eventually fell asleep tangled around each other, the cat had long escaped after getting annoyed at them for disrupting its sleep.

 

woojin woke up a couple of hours later to an empty spot next to him and no explanation. his mind scrambled for reasons, any reasonable excuse behind jihoon leaving him like that while he was asleep. and there were plenty, like having to study, or not wanting to wake woojin up, or feeling embarrassed at the possibility of daehwi catching them. but he still couldn’t shake the anxious feeling forming in his stomach.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's finally finished! thank you guys for sticking around through my slow updates haha. 
> 
> temo...........i love u.

jihoon was doing the right thing.

at least for himself. for now.

relationships of all kind have always been terrifying to him. on his first day of second grade, a girl asked him if he wanted to be friends with her and he panicked and called her a poopy face.

his social skills have not improved since.

whatever he had with woojin was a tangled web of chemistry and pent up attraction and some left over petty jealousy from the past few years. it took two months of tutoring daehwi for them to even become friends. he just was not ready to leap into something like this so suddenly. he wasn’t sure if he liked woojin yet, and honestly, woojin’s feelings towards him were not crystal clear either.

but he knew he had to make a decision quickly, and his moments of deliberation before he decided to leave while woojin was asleep turned into an entire week of him stressing over what he was going to do. and it was like everything around him related to woojin, he just couldn’t stop thinking about him every second of the day. when he unlocked the door to his apartment and remembered that woojin was now aware that he has an unhealthy obsession with kim taehyung, he thought of him whenever he opened his kitchen cabinet and found his things misplaced because woojin didn’t know how to put everything back correctly,  he could swear that his bed even smelled differently whenever he laid down to sleep at night. this must have been the work of his guilty conscious berating him for leaving. man, he never realized guilt could overtake your life like this.

the ominous _you better make a move quickly_ _hyung_ text he received from daehwi was what finally propelled him over the edge, and pushed him to make his next big mistake.

 

“i think we should break up.”

woojin choked on his woofuccino. “what?”

jihoon stared down at their linked hands. woojin had automatically reached for them and led him to a bench by the lake after they got their usual after class coffee. he didn’t have it in his heart to break apart. and a part of him really didn’t want to. 

“a long time has passed, right? i think it’s safe to break it off now. no point in pretending anymore, you know?” jihoon said quickly. the words felt like they were spilling from a stranger.

woojin was quiet for a long time, his expression unreadable.

“what?” he said again, quieter. jihoon’s heart clenched. he didn’t have it in him to say it again. “what about the-”

“a mistake,” jihoon answered swiftly, prepared for the question. “i mean, i can barely even remember what happened that day.” he let out a forced laugh. this was a huge lie, it was as if every single detail of their kiss was etched into the back of his eyelids, he couldn’t forget it no matter how hard he tried.

woojin’s grip around his hand loosened.

“are you fucking kidding me?” woojin asked. he was smiling but there was no humor in his eyes.

he wasn’t expecting that kind of reaction, and anger starter bubbling up inside of him. if only woojin  _ knew _ how much agonizing he went through to get to this point. “you don’t understand-” he began defensively, but woojin cut him off.

“oh i know exactly what’s going on,” he was getting louder, making jihoon feel self conscious about having this conversation in public. “when the fuck are you going to start being truthful about your feelings? not to me or anyone else, jihoon, but to yourself. i’m just getting sick of this, i can’t believe the rest of your friends haven’t.” he stood up and looked down at him.

jihoon felt like someone had just spilled a bucket of icy cold water over his head. he crossed his arms and tried to exhale through his nose, the fear of the confrontation making his hands shake and his breaths shorter.

“i don’t know what you’re talking about,” he answered in a small voice, despite the fact that he knew. woojin had ripped out his worst quality and shoved it right into his face, and he just could not bare to look. 

this shouldn’t be happening. this shouldn’t be happening. this shouldn’t be happening.

“you don’t?” woojin asked mockingly, his own voice trembling. “should i give you some examples? hi my name is jihoon and i can’t handle it when other people get too close to my best friend but instead of talking about it like an adult i’m going to be an asshole about it for years.”

“woojin-ah.”

“hi my name is jihoon i don’t want to hurt guanlin’s feelings because i care about him but i’m gonna act like it’s an inconvenience and that i don’t give a shit and hurt him even more instead.”

“park woojin.”

“hi my name is jihoon and i have feelings for woojin but because i’m terrified of change and relationships so i’m going to break up with him and act like nothing happened between us.” woojin took a sharp breath. “i am just so tired of your bullshit. god jihoon, do you ever think about anyone is yourself? while you were busy flip flopping over this relationship i spent countless hours from the beginning liking you, trying to win you over, feeling happy and anxious every time anything happened between us and god i was making a total fool of myself. while i was picking up the scraps of affection you’d throw me every now and then, when i was relieved when you finally reciprocated, you come here to tell me that is was a mistake? what a fucking joke.”

a million retaliations were springing around in his head, he had so many excuses and lies and leeways he could use to get out of this but none of them seemed right, he couldn’t say a word because he was terrified. woojin was absolutely terrifying at this moment, it was almost as if he could see through everything would say. every word from him was a sharp knife stabbing straight into jihoon’s heart. he felt naked and vulnerable in a way that no one had made him feel before. 

woojin really knew him better than he thought.

“stop it!” he got up and screamed, desperate for this nightmare to end. woojin looked taken aback, but he quickly regained his cool and smiled again. 

“yeah sure, i’ll stop. i’m done playing your stupid games anyway,” woojin spat out before walking away.

jihoon’s shaky legs collapsed and his knees hit the hard concrete. 

 

well, woojin had to admit to himself that 1) his rant was pretty self serving and and 2) he only said it because he was heart broken.

“your rant was pretty self serving and the only reason you even blew up was because his behavior was affecting you.”

correction: he was forced to because daehwi spelled it out for him.

“this is all my fault,” woojin sniffled for the millionth time from the blanket cocoon he had wrapped himself in since he got back.

“don’t beat yourself up hyung,” daehwi said sympathetically. “it’s more like, thirty percent your fault and seventy percent jihoon hyung’s, he’s the bigger douchebag in this situation,” he reassured him.

“thanks, i feel so much better now.” just last week, he was making out with  _ the _ park jihoon himself, and now he completely destroyed their relationship after one fucking fight. how was he supposed to live after this? jumping off the ninth floor window across from him seemed like a great option at the moment. 

daehwi sighed. “did you mean what you said?” he wouldn’t leave his side no matter how annoying and whiny woojin was getting. he figured that daehwi’s bullshit tolerance meter was one of the few perks of being park jihoon’s best friend.

woojin nodded. it’s not like this was never going to come up, especially if jihoon did decide to date him. besides, woojin wasn’t the most confrontational person in the world (that would be daehwi) but he sure was more outspoken than jihoon was. it’s just that….he was hoping that jihoon would magically become better and then he’d never had to have this conversation.

instead, it happened in the worst time possible.

“the rest is on jihoon hyung then,” daehwi patted the blanket. “don’t think that this is the end, he likes you too much for it to be.”

woojin sat up a little. “i feel like what i said just damaged things beyond repair, though. who would go back to someone who just yelled at them like this?”

daehwi hummed thoughtfully. he had cancelled all his plans for the day for this, and woojin felt eternally grateful to have him by his side. jinyoung had given up on him hours ago, telling him to get his shit together quickly so he could get his boyfriend back. daehwi, a fluent jinyoungese speaker, quickly translated that to  _ i love you and i hope you feel better soon, i’ll give you some space while you try to sort your shit out. _

“remember what yerim noona said when you met?”

woojin blushed. “that stupid corny stuff?”

daehwi nodded. “she never says corny stuff unless she actually means it. noona is just incapable of lying, she was the first person to tell me my purple hair looked terrible.”

they both laughed, and woojin’s chest felt a little lighter.

“my point is, i know what she means because i see it too. we all do.”

“even jinyoung?”

“he’s more invested in you two than i am, trust me.” the mental image of that couldn’t quite enter woojin’s head.

“and if jihoonie hyung throws it all away again,” daehwi balled his fists and scowled. “he’s gonna have to deal with me.”

  
  


park jihoon was never ever going to speak to park woojin again.

 

[3:00:11PM] JIHOONIE ♡: i ruined everything.   
[3:20:25PM] LEE DAEHWI: you sure did.

[3:20:50PM] LEE DAEHWI: fucking idiot.

 

he stared at his faint phone screen for a long time. he couldn’t even fire back at his best friend. jihoon deserved it.

_ i have feelings for woojin. _

_ i have feelings for woojin. _

_ i have feelings for woojin. _

woojin’s words have been echoing in his head all day. he finally said the words that jihoon had been so terrified to admit to himself all this time. all his confused emotions, woojin occupying all his thoughts, all the time they spent together was so precious, he had been happier with him that he had in a very long time but his fear was a self made prison that he could not be free of, and now the weight of his mistake was crashing down on him. if he could really, finally be honest with himself, hearing that confession from woojin was something that he’s been longing for in a very long time. and that day, when he gave woojin permission to kiss him, he was testing the waters, hoping that he’d go for it, his heart soaring when he finally did. he got so close.

it all seemed so clear now, it’s been so obvious all along. it’s no wonder that everyone quickly believed that they were actually together. 

the look of sheer disgust on woojin’s face was scary and unfamiliar, and it was all jihoon could see whenever he thought about him.  a tiny choked sob escaped him, prompting a torrent of bitter tears that he could not stop.he curled up and wrapped his arms around his folded legs, drifting to sleep on his soaked pillow.

 

jihoon’s life slipped back into an empty routine of going to class, studying, eating alone, and going out for the occasional drink with daehwi and jinyoung, who avoided bringing up what happened at all costs. things were normal again, almost. he thought he would be relieved that the chaos in his life was finally over and he could go back to focusing on important stuff like….his grades? or whatever. it was hard to remember how he lived without woojin constantly by his side, exchanging insults and shy glances. jihoon wanted to smack himself whenever he remembered their interactions, only an idiot like him would stay oblivious for that long. all hope was gone now though, woojin hated him forever and he was never going to forgive him for what he did. instead, the current woojin in his life was that person who sat in the back of the class during western classics, avoided all eye contact, and rushed out of the room the second it was over.

he caught up with guanlin a few times, who apologized and seemed a little distant, breaking jihoon’s heart. long gone was the over excited baby who would run up to him and envelope him in a hug whenever they saw each other.

jihoon just wanted to have his fake life back.

 

it was almost time for the final exams, and jihoon’s university campus turned into a tense and hostile place. people were crying or sleeping or buried in their textbooks and notes at every corner. it was nerve wracking, but it was also the kind of anxiety that jihoon was familiar with and knew how to work with. it felt almost comforting, to an extent.

jihoon stepped out of his professor’s office one afternoon after a fifteen minute long argument about half a grade that was taken off his final project to see a tall figure at the end of the hallway that was unmistakably guanlin’s. he walked up to him to say hello and maybe ask him if he wanted to come over for dinner, a last ditch effort to clear the air between them and try to restore their friendship back to normal. he really missed those crushing hugs.

he quickly realized that guanlin wasn’t alone, facing him was a very hyper seonho. seonho always looked like he was bursting with energy, but today there was this radiating aura of happiness that jihoon could feel from across the hall. he was hopping around and chattering in excitement, kept only on the ground because guanlin was busy zipping up his long padded jacket for him. perfect, he could ask seonho to come too to make it less awkward. he had to hurry though, because he could hear them exchange goodbyes. he started to make his way over when the unthinkable happened.

jihoon watched as seonho pressed a soft kiss on guanlin’s lips before leaving. he only managed to walk a few steps away before coming back to kiss him again, and they both started giggling. seonho tried to pull a straight face and leave again, but guanlin grabbed his hand and pulled him back in for a third kiss. they were sucked into their own world, drawn to each other like magnets, and jihoon had never seen them look so happy. 

jihoon coughed loudly and they both jumped up and pulled away. he bit his lips to stop himself from laughing at the horrified look on guanlin’s face.

 

“it happened on that night when i stormed out,” guanlin answered as he stabbed at his food distractingly. jihoon raised his eyebrows in surprise..

“wow, you got over me pretty quick,” he joked. he was so wrapped up in his own relationship drama that he never even realized that two of his closest friends had finally started dating.

seonho nudged guanlin impatiently. “you forgot to mention the best part!”

guanlin cleared his throat. “i kissed him first.”

jihoon gasped dramatically. “no way! oh my god, i can’t believe you two kept this from me.”

“we didn’t really tell anyone,” seonho scratched his neck. “we didn’t want them to like….misunderstand.” he reached for gunalin’s hand under the table and things clicked for jihoon. this was his partially his fault, too.

they both seemed very content though, and it was the first time in a long time that guanlin and jihoon had talked without his guilt tainting all their interactions. his home was filled with happiness and laughter again, and he wished he found out about this sooner.  he found himself regretting a lot of things lately, it was a weird and uncomfortable emotion. jihoon had always been the type of person to fuck shit up and never look back, but it seemed like a certain boy softened him up. 

“seonho was trying to comfort me the whole subway ride home,” guanlin continued the story. “he got all up in my face in classic seonho fashion, saying that i’m not allowed to cry because i’ll embarrass him in front of the cute girls sitting across from us, and in my drunk confusion i had a realization-”

“he realized he was in love with me!” seonho interrupted and his boyfriend smacked him playfully.

jihoon rested a cheek on his hand and sighed. “you’re like a basket full of kittens.”

“i’m gonna tell daehwi hyung you said that, he’s gonna make you regret every mean thing you ever said about him and jinyoung hyung,” seonho threatened, but a single glare from jihoon was enough to shut him down. he didn’t want his reputation as a soulless demon to be tainted.

“i realized that i cared about seonho more than anyone else in the world,” guanlin continued loudly, annoyed at the non stop interruptions. 

“wait wait, say that again,”

“i said it to you a million times already!” 

he pouted at him sadly, and guanlin turned away, flustered. “i care about you more than anything in the world,” he repeated, a little softer than the first time. his boyfriend clutched his chest pretended to swoon.

“you know what, i take it back,” jihoon said, pushing his plate away as if he just lost all his appetite. 

“please hyung, you love us,” seonho winked at him. “how many times have you told me to go for it already? to be honest, i had given up hope after he confessed. i forced myself to come to terms with the fact that guanlin will never love me back.”

jihoon couldn’t imagine that at all, seeing how they were now. seonho and guanlin falling in love and staying together was an inevitability that everyone around them expected. not even he, the irresistible and gorgeous park jihoon, could stop it from happening. 

there was an vacant feeling in his chest after they were gone, with seonho giving him a big hug and telling him that things will get better. jihoon hadn’t even said anything that night or indicated that he wasn’t feeling okay, but that boy had the incredible talent of always knowing the right thing to say in every situation. living alone had never actually felt this lonely before, and jihoon, for the first time in his life, began to contemplate the possibility of getting a furry companion. maybe name it jin. for the bts member obviously,  _ not _ his ex fake boyfriend. not at all. he made a mental note to check out the nearest animal shelter next weekend.

daehwi called him an hour later, and he hit the speaker button as he went about his nightly skincare routine.

they talked about how their days went, with daehwi clearly editing out the parts that included woojin out of all of his stories. business as usual. jihoon was so tempted to spill the news about guanlin and seonho, but he had promised to let them break it to the rest of the group themselves.

“hey, daehwi?” jihoon began before they exchanged their goodnights. he wanted to get this off his chest once and for all. “thanks for asking w-woojin,” even saying his name out loud was painful, and jihoon realized that he hadn’t mentioned him to anyone in weeks. “to take care of me after the party. that was really nice of you.”

there was a long silence on the other line. “what are you talking about?”

panic began to creep into jihoon. “you gave him the passcode to my apartment?”

“oooohhhhhh. oh yeah, haha. don’t worry about it, that’s what best friends are for,” daehwi answered nervously, and jihoon grew suspicious. 

“how did you forget about this?” now that he thought about it, the fact that daehwi didn’t take it as an opportunity to rub it in his face at all times or noisily inquire about what happened between him and woojin after they spent the fucking night together was pretty weird. he should have caught on to this way earlier.

another pause. “wait a minute,” daehwi whispered. jihoon heard the sound of shuffling, a muffled ‘where are you going?’, and a door click. “fine, it wasn’t me okay?”

jihoon dropped his cleansing brush in the sink. “what do you mean it wasn’t you? how else did he get in?”

“you told him, dumbass,” daehwi sighed loudly and told him what happened in painful, excruciating detail, down to the part where jihoon pretended to arrest woojin.

“so i-”

“yeah.”

“i actually, really,”

“yeah you fucking did.”

“i want to die,” he muttered weakly. woojin’s unbridled rage at him suddenly made a lot more sense. it wasn’t just the kiss after all. jihoon might as well have confessed to him, and woojin had to sit and live with that, pretending everything was perfectly fine. he looked out of his bathroom and into the apartment and pictured every idiotic thing he did in front of woojin. it was time for him to move out of here as soon as possible.

“anyway, i have to go before woojin starts to get suspicious, have fun with that revelation, hyung.”

_ click. _

he laid down wide awake for hours afterward. there was so much for his brain to process, too many emotions for his ice cold heart that had only recently began to function. he thought back to seonho’s words, about how he had finally reached the point of giving up completely. this was where jihoon was now, and seeing his two friends happily together after all they went through gave birth to a new, tiny flicker of hope that things might change for him and woojin. he wasn’t sure how, but this wasn’t the end between them. it couldn’t be.

when he finally did manage to sleep, he dreamed that he was being chased around by a tooth dressed as a police officer.

 

jihoon woke up the next saturday morning to his phone buzzing loudly on the bedside table. he sunk further under his blanket and refused to give in to the insistent noise ruining his precious sleep. the phone stopped for two minutes, and jihoon was relieved that whoever was bothering him this early had finally given up when it went off again. he huffed and reached for it blindly and hit the answer button without bothering to check who it was.

“what do you fucking want?” he answered groggily. 

“fuck, jihoon, thank god you finally picked up,” woojin’s distressed voice came from the other end of the line, and jihoon stopped breathing. 

he hung up.

his phone had five missed calls and 30 messages from woojin, all begging him to please call him back. whatever was wrong with him, it must have been pretty serious. just as he was about to text him back (hearing his voice was a bit too much to take right now) woojin called again. jihoon sighed and answered.

“that wasn’t very nice,” woojin said. he really had the guts to sass him right now? jihoon was feeling a mixture of relief that woojin was actually talking to him normally and nervousness because  _ holy shit park woojin is actually talking to him right now _ .

“remember what i said about my beauty sleep?” he replied, slipping back into their usual banter without thinking. there was silence between them. “what’s wrong?”

“right,” woojin began, like he forgot why he called him in the first place. “it’s tata, he’s been acting weird since last night and i’m worried out of my mind and there is no one here and you’re like one of five people who know he exists.”

jihoon was already getting out of bed. “i’m coming over, give me ten minutes max.”

 

he was tempted to turn back and pretend that their conversation was just a weird vivid dream approximately 25 times on his walk over to the dorm complex. the only thing that kept him going was his overwhelming worry for tata. he was going to kill woojin if anything happened to that little fucker. jihoon was planning to try and reach out to woojin again, sure, but he didn’t know  _ how _ yet. and now he’s been literally dragged out of bed and forced to take some action. this whole having feelings for someone thing was definitely not for him.

jihoon banged on the door with his fist. he was the only person who knocked that aggressively and he continued to do it so that woojin always knew it was him.

woojin looked like a mess. his eyes were dripping with exhaustion and his shirt had a puke stain on it, but jihoon didn’t the miss the way he brightened up when he saw him. another tiny glimmer of hope.

“hey,” he said softly.

“hello,” jihoon answered, and they stood there contemplating each other. he wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but woojin looked taller and more attractive than he remembered him. he wanted to pull him close and run his hands through his messy hair. yeah, no, that was definitely his thirst talking.

“he’s been puking since yesterday,” woojin finally said as he let him in. “i think he might have a gastrointestinal tract infection.”

jihoon was impressed. woojin sounded very professional, like a real doctor. it was kind of hot.

“i know what you’re thinking but i just googled his symptoms.”

“i didn’t say anything,” he grumbled under his breath, embarrassed. could woojin stop reading his mind now? it was getting kind of annoying. things were more fun when he had a sexy mysterious allure. that was his brand.

“we need to get him to a doctor as soon as possible,” woojin said carefully, and the realization began to down on jihoon.

“you….want  _ me _ to help you sneak him out….”

woojin ran his hand through his hair nervously, a habit that jihoon had tried to put a stop to, with relative success. it seemed like woojin just stopped giving a fuck after their breakup. “listen, i know we kinda left things off at a bad place, and i’m sorry for everything i said but can you please help me one last time?” he pleaded.

he’s  _ sorry _ ? woojin is the one who’s sorry? jihoon had a lot of expectations on his way over, and all of them involved woojin continuing to be a total dick to him. if anything he’s the one who has to apologize for all the bullshit he pulled in the past few months.

“don’t be an idiot,” he answered instead and watched woojin’s expression falter. “i promised to protect that stupid creature didn’t i? besides, it’s not just your cat you know.” he meant to say that he was the one who was sorry and that he would understand if woojin never wanted to see his face again, but this would have to do for now.

woojin smiled so hard that his eyes disappeared, and jihoon forgot how to breathe for a minute. he forgot how much he missed this. “thank you so much! i’ll do anything in return,” he offered seriously. was this guy for real? jihoon felt even more guilty now and he was getting sick of it.

“i think i’ll save my request for after we save tata’s life.”

jihoon helped woojin load the small kitten into his backpack and then surveyed the hallway to make sure the coast was clear.

“i think we can leave no- hey, what’s wrong?” woojin was wearing a big pair of sunglasses and leaning against the wall dramatically. jihoon yanked them off of his face. “for the last time, we’re not playing spies, and i refuse to call you agent cham.” he did feel very tempted to, though. woojin sulked. “fine, we’re gonna do this rescue mission in the most boring way possible.”

“the safest way possible,” jihoon corrected.

they went mostly unnoticed by the other residents, and the building was especially quiet since it was a weekend morning. it was a mostly peaceful walk down to the entrance, they both chatted loudly and tried to make a lot of noise to drown out any potential meowing coming out of the backpack, but jihoon sensed that the security guard’s eyes were on them the whole time as they exited. he might have just been distracted, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling that he knew that something was up.

woojin took a deep breath and crouched down as soon as they were sure that they were safe. “i thought my heart was going to stop beating for a second there.” tata let out a muffled  _ meow _ in agreement. 

jihoon pet his head sympathetically. “you did fine for your first espionage mission, agent cham,” he said, finally giving in. 

“not so shabby yourself, agent wink,” he responded immediately, grinning up at him.

it might sound cheesy, but woojin’s smile made jihoon feel like everything was right again, that empty feeling in his chest was replaced with a burst of rainbows and sunshine. it was strange how one person was capable of changing his entire universe, but park woojin was just magical like that. jihoon was determined to never let him go this time.

“thank you jihoon, i’m really glad you’re here,” woojin said suddenly, and jihoon turned away to hide the embarrassing blush forming in his cheeks. he couldn’t remember how he dealt with woojin’s constant adorableness and random bursts of honesty before because he was slowly murdering him with every little gesture now.

“well, i’m really glad i came,” he muttered, still facing in the opposite direction, but he didn’t have to look at woojin’s face to know that he was probably smiling fondly at him again. 

most of the staff of the university’s veterinary hospital seemed familiar with woojin, and they got tata to a doctor five minutes after they walked in. 

“he’s going to be fine,” the doctor assured them “we just need to keep him here for a couple of days.”

their kitten did seem a little better already, just because it finally stopped resisting the hospital staff and hopping back into woojin’s arms, who held him at eye level and sternly asked him to behave. tata responded by licking his nose.

jihoon didn’t know when it happened, but he quickly slipped back into the habit of holding woojin’s hand when he’s nervous. woojin responded by gently squeezing back as they waited for the diagnosis.

they sat in the reception area while waiting for the paperwork to be done, and jihoon leaned his head against woojin’s shoulder. “i’m really glad he’s okay,” he whispered, and woojin hummed in agreement. he opened his mouth to say something else when woojin’s phone buzzed and jolted them apart. all the blood seemed to drain from woojin’s face as he listened to the person on the other line.

“w-what’s wrong?” jihoon asked when he finally hung up. woojin was pale as a chalkboard, he began to worry that somebody had died or something. 

“i’m getting evicted,” he answered, burying his face into his hands. “the security guard heard tata’s voice so they searched my room and found all his things.”

“what?” jihoon yelled. “they can’t do that, this is your first offense! i mean, it is your first offense right?” he suddenly remembered who he was talking to. the sad look on woojin’s face was a clear answer to his question. “oh woojin, you stupid soft hearted idiot.” 

of course, woojin couldn’t resist helping a small animal, jihoon couldn’t count the amount of times he made him stand out in the cold because he just had to feed every single stray kitten that came his way. he even kept treat bags in his backpack at all times. “they warned me a year ago and said that this was my last chance. i had to stay away from cats for an entire year!”

“you’re literally going to spend your life working with animals, woojin-ah,” he said unhelpfully, which only propelled woojin further into his sorrows.

“what am i going to do now? i can’t afford to live on my own, it all over for me,” he muttered to himself darkly, and a very terrible idea weaseled its way into jihoon’s head.

he was going to do this sometime down the line anyway, so what’s the harm in saying it now?

“you and tata can come live with me!” he said, taking both of woojin’s hands into his. “it’ll be perfect, we can even bring in more cats!”

“but jihoon, your apartment only has one bed,” was woojin’s idiotic response. jihoon thought that he should just take back his offer and walk away. 

jihoon crouched down on the floor, which had dog pee flowing all over it just minutes ago, and faced woojin. “you stupid asshole, i’m saying that we should share that bed,” woojin didn’t say anything, and he began to feel self conscious (and his knees were in severe pain, this romantic gesture was a pretty bad idea). “i-i- mean, only if you want to. you don’t have to, you can just take the couch or something but the point is that i want you and tata to be there, i want to be with you woojin.” jihoon had never said something so disgusting in his entire life, not even when he put on his fake sugary persona. but he also never meant something so much. saying the truth, leaving himself to be vulnerable for just a few seconds was a lot better than he thought it would be. it was like a huge weight was lifted off his chest. it almost didn’t matter if woojin rejected him anymore, he was just relieved to finally say it to his face.

no more guilt. no regrets.

woojin was a quiet for a long time, but jihoon never let go of his hands, if this was the last time that he got to hold them then so be it.

woojin eventually looked up and blinked at the ceiling. were these tears in his eyes? “i can’t believe park jihoon is down on his knees, begging me to be his boyfriend,” he told the fluorescent lights, and jihoon let out a scandalized squeak. 

“you know what, i take it ba-” he said, trying to pull away, but woojin was quick to grab his face and bring him closer for a kiss. jihoon made another choked noise as he wrapped his arms around his neck. it was even more awkward than their first kiss, with their faces mushed against each other uncomfortably, but jihoon couldn’t care less. the feeling of woojin’s lips was as heart stopping as ever, more familiar and sweet than he remembered. it was like coming home.

they pulled away slowly, neither of them wanting to be the first one to break the kiss. jihoon felt a shiver down his spine as he watched woojin lick his lips.

“so i guess that’s a yes?” he asked in a shaky voice, trying to even his breathing.

“times a million,” woojin responded, bumping their foreheads together.

 

jihoon woke up to a tongue rolling against his cheek. “woojinie, stop it,” he whined at his boyfriend.

“that’s not me,” woojin mumbled sleepily. “whatever it is,” he tightened his arms around jihoon’s waist and buried his face into his hair. jihoon sighed contentedly, he quickly discovered that being the big spoon was one of woojin’s many talents. others included making him breakfast and screaming every time he discovered a spider in their bathroom, alerting every single person in their building. actually, woojin was just a screamer in general.

he opened his eyes and screeched when he was greeted with a very furry face. the cat seemed startled too, because it jumped back and ran under the bed. “wait, tata! i’m sorry please come back,” he stretched out an arm but couldn’t find the strength to break away from woojin’s embrace and retrieve it from under the bed. that was the last he was going to see of tata that morning.

“you need to stop scaring our cats, babe.”

“they need to stop licking my face while i’m asleep!” he rolled around to face woojin. “let’s not forget that time your unnecessary screaming made chimmy hide under the couch for hours,”

woojin closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, and jihoon smiled and kissed his cheek. his boyfriend tried to stay still but a loud snort escaped his nose and evolved into a tiny giggle before giving jihoon his usual morning kiss. woojin always kissed him the same way, gently holding his face in his big hands like he’s the most precious thing in the universe, and jihoon always felt so overwhelmed, by woojin’s existence, by his warmth, by the amount of love he put into every touch. their first kiss was months ago, but he still felt like butterflies were exploding in his stomach every time.

“good morning,” woojin said, stroking jihoon’s face with his thumb softly.

“hey dickhead,” jihoon answered playfully, pressing himself against his chest and kissing him again. he fiddled with the rabbit charm around woojin’s neck. he couldn’t believe that sentimental loser wore it to sleep. jihoon thought of teasing him about it, but he was just as embarrassingly in love with him, and he didn’t want woojin to pull out the receipts of all the mushy things that jihoon has done to him in return, like back hugging him the entire time he was cooking, or waiting for him outside the exam hall with a warm woofuccino ready during every final, or bringing home a third cat for christmas.

the truth was that he would do anything for woojin, even if it meant stepping out of his comfort zone and opening up to others and showing his vulnerabilities. and woojin didn’t care, he loved every part of him.

it’s been a terrifying and exciting ride so far, and jihoon wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! this is the longest fic i've ever written so far and i'm glad it was for 2park!!
> 
> please feel free to drop by my [twitter](https://twitter.com/demonjihoon) or [cc](https://curiouscat.me/puppylove) and scream about wanna one/2park with me!


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